Tuscaloosan recognized as nation’s Truck Dealer of the Year

Published: Sunday, February 17, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, February 15, 2013 at 4:41 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA | At 18, Drew Linn took a job with an International Harvester truck dealership to help pay for his college education at Jacksonville State.

“When I started off, I was sweeping floors and putting up stock,” he said.

The job was supposed to be temporary — something to get him through school.

It turned into a career — a career that his peers recognized earlier this month when they named him the nation’s Truck Dealer of the Year at the American Truck Dealers Convention and Expo in Orlando, Fla.

Linn, 65, of Tuscaloosa, owns Southland International Trucks, one of the largest medium- and heavy-duty truck dealerships in Alabama, with seven locations across the state.

“It’s a business that started right here in Tuscaloosa,” he said last week, a few days after he returned from Orlando.

Linn said he learned the truck dealership business from the bottom up starting in college. After graduation, he became a management trainee with International Harvester, now Navistar.

And in 1977, he moved to Tuscaloosa to became a partner in Tuscaloosa Truck & Equipment.

“I have made my home here ever since,” he said.

In 1982, he and one of the partners bought out the other partners at Tuscaloosa Truck, and four years later, Linn bought out his remaining partner.

About the same time, he acquired truck dealerships in Birmingham and Montgomery. That’s when he renamed his company Southland International Trucks. Today, the company still has a dealership on Skyland Boulevard in Tuscaloosa, as well as dealerships in Birmingham, Montgomery, Huntsville, Decatur, Tarrant and Homewood, where it has its corporate headquarters. All told, it has about 200 employees.

Linn said he tries to spend some time at all the dealerships. His son, Andrew Linn, now the company’s customer solution manager at its headquarters, said his father often commutes daily to the Homewood office.

Last year, Southland International Trucks sold more than 3,300 vehicles and had revenue of about $250 million, Linn said. Its products include International trucks, IC buses, Transcraft trailers and Continental mixer trucks. Parts and service also are a big part of its operation, and it has more than 400 pieces of equipment in its lease fleet.

That continuing service to customers played a role in Linn winning the national award, according to a statement from the National Automobile Dealers Association, a sister organization of the American Truck Dealers.

One Southland customer, Chris Hornady, president of Hornady Transportation LLC, a trucking company in Monroeville, was quoted as saying, “Drew has always been in tune with our needs. From instituting weekend shifts to making himself personally available, Drew makes sure that we have access to service whenever we need it because our business runs seven day a week.”

In presenting the award to Linn on Feb. 9, Lynn W. McGee, chairman of the American Truck Dealers 2013 selection committee, said: “Drew Linn exemplifies the contribution of American truck dealers to our nation’s businesses and its economy. For his consistent, exceptional performance during his more than 46 years in the industry, he was selected as the national winner.”

Nominees were judged on their dealership performance, civic contributions and industry leadership. The winner was selected by a panel of professors from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

Linn said didn’t expect to win the award.

In reflecting on his career, Linn said the industry has changed a lot since he started.

“It has gone from a lot of owner-operators to a lot more bigger trucking companies,” he said. “But they still need dealers that have the products they need and, where they can get the parts and service to keep their trucks on the road.”

Patrick Rupinski can be reached at patrick.rupinski@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0213.

<p>TUSCALOOSA | At 18, Drew Linn took a job with an International Harvester truck dealership to help pay for his college education at Jacksonville State.</p><p>“When I started off, I was sweeping floors and putting up stock,” he said. </p><p>The job was supposed to be temporary — something to get him through school.</p><p>It turned into a career — a career that his peers recognized earlier this month when they named him the nation's Truck Dealer of the Year at the American Truck Dealers Convention and Expo in Orlando, Fla.</p><p>Linn, 65, of Tuscaloosa, owns Southland International Trucks, one of the largest medium- and heavy-duty truck dealerships in Alabama, with seven locations across the state.</p><p>“It's a business that started right here in Tuscaloosa,” he said last week, a few days after he returned from Orlando.</p><p>Linn said he learned the truck dealership business from the bottom up starting in college. After graduation, he became a management trainee with International Harvester, now Navistar. </p><p>And in 1977, he moved to Tuscaloosa to became a partner in Tuscaloosa Truck & Equipment. </p><p>“I have made my home here ever since,” he said.</p><p>In 1982, he and one of the partners bought out the other partners at Tuscaloosa Truck, and four years later, Linn bought out his remaining partner.</p><p>About the same time, he acquired truck dealerships in Birmingham and Montgomery. That's when he renamed his company Southland International Trucks. Today, the company still has a dealership on Skyland Boulevard in Tuscaloosa, as well as dealerships in Birmingham, Montgomery, Huntsville, Decatur, Tarrant and Homewood, where it has its corporate headquarters. All told, it has about 200 employees.</p><p>Linn said he tries to spend some time at all the dealerships. His son, Andrew Linn, now the company's customer solution manager at its headquarters, said his father often commutes daily to the Homewood office.</p><p>Last year, Southland International Trucks sold more than 3,300 vehicles and had revenue of about $250 million, Linn said. Its products include International trucks, IC buses, Transcraft trailers and Continental mixer trucks. Parts and service also are a big part of its operation, and it has more than 400 pieces of equipment in its lease fleet.</p><p>That continuing service to customers played a role in Linn winning the national award, according to a statement from the National Automobile Dealers Association, a sister organization of the American Truck Dealers.</p><p>One Southland customer, Chris Hornady, president of Hornady Transportation LLC, a trucking company in Monroeville, was quoted as saying, “Drew has always been in tune with our needs. From instituting weekend shifts to making himself personally available, Drew makes sure that we have access to service whenever we need it because our business runs seven day a week.”</p><p>In presenting the award to Linn on Feb. 9, Lynn W. McGee, chairman of the American Truck Dealers 2013 selection committee, said: “Drew Linn exemplifies the contribution of American truck dealers to our nation's businesses and its economy. For his consistent, exceptional performance during his more than 46 years in the industry, he was selected as the national winner.”</p><p>Nominees were judged on their dealership performance, civic contributions and industry leadership. The winner was selected by a panel of professors from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.</p><p>Linn said didn't expect to win the award.</p><p>In reflecting on his career, Linn said the industry has changed a lot since he started.</p><p>“It has gone from a lot of owner-operators to a lot more bigger trucking companies,” he said. “But they still need dealers that have the products they need and, where they can get the parts and service to keep their trucks on the road.”</p><p>Patrick Rupinski can be reached at patrick.rupinski@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0213.</p>